


Normal

by poptartzformonstax



Category: Joohyuk - Fandom, monstax - Fandom
Genre: JooHyuk, monstax
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-03 16:50:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16329881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poptartzformonstax/pseuds/poptartzformonstax
Summary: What's under Jooheon's turtleneck?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N- Hey guys!!! This is the first fic I've ever written EVER, so I really hope that this is okay to read for most of you guys. English is not my first language, so if there are some grammatical mistakes, please let me live =) Anyways, thank you for reading and making it to the end of this chapter. A new chapter will be added next week. See you there!

"Thank you mother for taking me to get my braces tightened 3 months too soon!" Minhyuk had just finished gym class, gotten dressed, but decided to linger around in the locker room a while longer, looking for a place to silently cry to himself. A dusty softball hit him square in the face, making sure to bump against his sore mouth. Minhyuk complained grumbly to himself as he poked at his teeth in his locker mirror. He'd had braces all of high school due to a misaligned jaw and jumbled up teeth. He'd also grown much too tired of popping himself in the mouth with his bands, and having to take them out when he ate because, well, he was a (kinda) growing boy. Almost swallowed them once, he couldn't get them out fast enough. But if all this was for his teeth to actually look like something and not like a jagged chainsaw on crack, then he would suffer in, somewhat, silence.   
His mouth rendezvous was soon cut short, as he began to hear footsteps. He didn't even have to turn around to know exactly who it was, he could literally smell imbalanced teenage hormones in the air. That's just what he got for staying later than he should've.   
The stomps slowly made their way up to him. Minhyuk then, and only then decided to move his body around with the sound, then coming face to face with his biggest bedwetting night terror. "Hello Minhyuk-ah." Il Joo. He might as well have been THE dumbest soccer player anyone on the planet earth has ever seen. Okay, so what if he was anatomically good looking? The guy had the brain mass of the number 0. The IQ of a bluntly sharpened blade. The attention span of a 90 year old bitch of a grandmother who keeps asking "huh?" every time you begin to speak.   
Minhyuk’s breath hitched so sharply that it is impossible anyone would have any oxygen for much longer. With a look to the side, he said "leave me alone today, okay? I'm not in the mood." Slightly horrified, but sassy voice. Good job, Minhyuk! "Oh, you're not in the mood?" Il Joo said. His long fingers caressed the face of his God. And though his words were nasty, his hands told a different story. "You know what? I don't think I feel like waiting for you to get in the mood. You'll just have to make time for me now." Minhyuk quietly cursed to himself and shut his eyes tight enough to strangle his eyeballs, trying to melt into his locker as he felt Il Joo's breath on his ear. "You're gonna give me exactly what I've been asking for for. Don't act like I won't just take it. I’m trying to be a gentleman” he commented, as if Minhyuk hadn't heard that the last time. And just as the overgrown baboon began to trap Minhyuk in his metaphorical box , something he had never expected to happen... well, happened.   
"Is there a problem here?" The brunettes eyes opened so quickly, you'd think he just struck oil. In front of him must have been that new student everyone was talking about earlier that day. Minhyuk couldn't believe it. He was especially shaken because the student was wearing a black turtleneck, black jeans, black shoes, black nail polish, just black everything! So it was just hard to fathom that a person who looked like that would stand up for Minhyuk, the brunette boy with the wonky blink and lanky body. Well, he hadn’t exactly stood up for him, but it was close enough. And then he snapped back to reality where realized that Il Joo was nowhere to be found, and that new guy was walking away. Legs quaking, he managed to squeak out “h-hey! Wait up!" Minhyuk ran down the oblong, gloomy corridor, shutting his locker door and making sure he grabbed backpack out of it.  
So here Minhyuk was, following his new found hero, wanting to ask so many questions. The new guy’s footspeed was impeccable, so much so that Minhyuk almost fell with every step he took to attempt to keep up with him. "So... what's your name" he asked, looking up at the jet black haired boy. "Jooheon." He kept walking, and so did Minhyuk. "H-how long have you been in town?" "Two days." The both of them then shared awkward silence. The severely cringy kind. It was mainly Minhyuk though, because he really wanted to come off as a cool guy toward the new student. This was a chance for him to be different; to not be a complete geek to at least one person. "Hey, um... Thanks for helping me out back there! He was really about to--" "No problem. What's your name?" Wow, someone who wanted to know his name? Don't mess this up! "Minhyuk. Lee Minhyuk." The stranger gave an ‘I'm not really gonna smile but I'll purse my lips together and nod’ smile, and stuck his hand out towards Minhyuk. Shit, what was he supposed to do? He never was good at these things. So to save himself from embarrassment, he decided to stop walking and bow instead. Fucking weirdo. Minhyuk shook his head in shame and kept walking along with Jooheon. "What were you doing in the locker rooms anyways, Jooheon?" "I'll tell you later. Could you show me around a bit? I don’t know where anything is." Was that strange? Yes. Should Minhyuk have asked him about it. Probably. Was he gonna just ignore it though? You bet! So he nodded and proceeded to walk slightly in front of Jooheon so he could follow closely behind.  
The "tour," which was really Minhyuk pointing and saying "that's where so-and-so threw up, or that's so-and-so's class, you don't want them," only took about 30 minutes, as most of the school looked the same, just on different sides and opposite floors. The two decided to sit on a bench just inside the school doors. "May I see your schedule?" Minhyuk asked this as politely as possible, because he didn’t want to agitate the new kid at all in any type of way. He’d just die if he let this potential friend slip.   
Jooheon took the crumpled up piece of paper out of his jean pocket, flattening it out on the edge of the seat he was on. Pieces of lint and gum wrappers fell out in the process. "Here." The paper was then placed into the Minhyuk’s palm. "Okay, let's see... well we have lunch together. But that's all I see." "I'm not making you miss class, am I?" "No, not at all. Lunch is in about three hours, and that's the only class I really care about" Lies, but it sure sounded cool! 'But it's free period right now. Class starts up again in about 10 minutes. I can walk you to you next class if you want." The pale boy shrugged, looking down to his feet as they skirted freely amongst the granite floors. This gave Minhyuk a brief moment to study him even more. He quickly realized that not only were his eyes a deep brown, but they were an icy brown, like some that, if you look at them too long, you'll get a little shiver up your spine. And his skin was slightly pale, like porcelain. A truly beautifully made person.  
As routine of the day rolled forward, 3rd, 4th, and 5th period came and went. Lunch was beginning, and here Minhyuk stood, lunch tray in hand and scanning the entire lunch room. Not for any special reason. Well, maybe for one slightly but not really but actually pretty special reason. He may or may not have had the idiotic idea to ask Jooheon to sit next to him. Such a simple task, but it's Minhyuk. Minhyuk! How would he even go about doing it? He didn't know. Maybe he wouldn't at all. But he was pushed out of his thoughts when a tap was felt on his slender shoulder. "Hey Min. Want to sit together? I don't exactly have any friends yet." It, thank God, was Jooheon. And he'd been asked to sit with him. And he had a kickass new nickname! This day couldn't get any cooler!!!!!!!! "Yeah, of course! There's a table is over here. Follow me."  
Sitting with Jooheon sure was a dream for Minhyuk. Sitting with anyone really. He'd never had anyone to speak to before at lunch, nor in any of his classes because he was slightly an outcast, as everyone could easily tell. Sure, people kept giving him weird looks, probably asking themselves why some attractive dude was sitting with the most socially awkward guy in all of the history of high school. Well, Minhyuk wondered that too, but he chose to do something that he was really good at and should’ve been in a world record book for by now; ignore all the bullshit.   
"Jooheon, where are you from" he asked, half a mouth full of rice. "Daegu originally, but my family moved to Seoul. We moved a lot, actually." "No kidding? Your parents must have pretty good jobs then, huh?" Minhyuk felt Jooheon get tense. "They got killed a few years ago." Shit. "Sorry Jooheon, I really didn't mean to--" "No, it's completely fine. How were you supposed to know?" Jooheon looked down at his uneaten chicken, playing with it with his tattered wooden chopsticks. Minhyuk felt terrible now. He had to make the mood light again, as that was only his nature. "You know, once when I was 12, I got my hand stuck in a blender and my finger almost got turned into a delicious smoothie." Jooheon let out a halfway laugh. He laughed a laugh that Minhyuk would come to love and hate. "That’s um… pretty random. Why did you even tell me that?" he asked him. The boy smiled and pushed his hair slightly out of his eyes. "I wanted to make you feel better." "Well you definitely succeeded. Thank you." With that, the two boys ate their lunch in somewhat silence, somewhat noise. It was nice. Really nice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, everyone! Thank you so much for tuning into this new chapter. I have a feeling this will be a short story, maybe 7-10 chapters or so. Anyways, thanks again, and enjoy!

The day was drawing to an end, and Minhyuk could barely keep still in his mathematics class seat. End of the day meant home which meant bed which meant sleep, and the poor kid could use some right about now. He’d been struggling desperately to keep his eyelids up long enough to actually obtain any information, and his inability to listen to anything uninteresting was a factor as well.  
As the last class let out, Minhyuk searched high and low for his new friend, Jooheon. You remember, that kid with all black everything. Well, he seemed to be nowhere around the front doors, where all the children were running out like time was running out, and they had to catch it. The school quietly became empty, and Minhyuk was the only fool still there. With a kick of a paper ball left in the deserted hallway, he began to head out, until he heard his name being called. Il Joo skipped school that day, so it was no other than…  
”Jooheon! You made it! I thought you’d left without me.”  
“Never! I don’t like riding the bus alone.”  
The two talked a bit long, Minhyuk asking how school went and Jooheon groaning every so often do describe his boredom, yet gross love for the institution. They then walked across the street and down two blocks to get to the bus stop. Jooheon’s glittery black nail polish glistened in the sunlight.  
After ten minutes, Minhyuk decided he couldn’t stand anymore and took a seat on the crowded stop bence, attempting to get under the overhead ad for some protection from the beating sun. However, he quickly stood to his feet when he heard that familiar clunky screeching noise of the transit bus, along with every other poor soul there. As he gave himself a pat down in attempts to discover his bus pass, he realized that he must’ve left it in his jacket pocket. And then he realized that he didn’t have his jacket, and that he left it in homeroom. AGAIN! With a defeated and tired sigh, he turned to Jooheon.   
“So… funny story. I’m pretty sure I left my bus pass at school, and there’s no way the doors are still unlocked. So I’ll just walk from here. I’m really glad you had a good first day! See you tomorrow, okay?” Minhyuk tried walking away, but Jooheon grabbed on to the back of Minhyuk’s backpack and caused him to come to a sturdy stop, just as the bus did at that exact moment. Jooheon watched all the civilians get on for a few seconds, then twirled Minhyuk towards him.  
“It’s okay, I’ll get you on. I don’t want you walking.”  
“But you can’t use your bus pass for someone else.”  
“Just c’mon!”   
Up the steps Minhyuk went, Jooheon leading. The depressed portly driver gave the two a look up and down, but especially the darker one. Jooheon just cracked one side of his neck and straightened up his back.  
“Hello sir,” he says, ‘My friend and I don’t have our bus passes today. Would it be possible for us to ride anyway? It’s such a hot day, and we don’t--”  
“No passes, no ride.”  
“I’m sorry, but could you look me in the eyes when you’re speaking to me? I feel that that’s only polite.”  
With the loudest groan Minhyuk’d ever heard, the driver obliged to Jooheon’s request.   
“Listen punk, I said...”   
Minhyuk couldn’t see much, but what he did observe when he looked passed his friend’s shoulder was that the driver’s demeanor snapped within a few seconds of Jooheon’s speech.   
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” The way he asked was so innocent, yet very informal. Honorifics nowhere to be found. Minhyuk had his breath held and his eyes tightly clenched, waiting for the driver to snap at him.   
“I said it’s no problem at all. Go on ahead, boys. Would you like to put your backpacks up here?”  
Jooheon slightly turned his head, just enough to allow Minhyuk to see him.  
“Minhyuk, you want to?”  
“Um… I’m okay… thank you.”  
Minhyuk hurriedly made his way to the back of the bus, shoving his head in his hands to avoid the pissy looks the other passengers who had to pay were throwing him. He sat down with a thud. Jooheon stood next to him, holding tightly onto the poles as the bus began to make its trek.   
“You okay?”  
Minhyuk slightly peeked out from behind his slender fingers.   
“Yeah… well, I guess. That was just different, I’ve never seen anyone get on the bus free before. Why’d you lie about not having a bus pass too?”  
“I wasn’t lying. I don’t have one at all.”  
“What?! What if that wouldn’t have worked? You’d have to walk, too. And you’re wearing a turtleneck in the precipice of the heat.”  
Jooheon just shrugged and tilted his head back ever so slightly, listening closely to the old wheels of that contraction, and made a dissatisfied face when speed bumps would jostle him. When Minhyuk finally decided to come out of his turtle shell made of his own flesh, he discovered that Jooheon was truly one of the most beautiful people he’d ever seen him in his life. From his gorgeous head of hair, to that strange tattoo looking thing on his neck that was being exposed by his shifted turtleneck, he was really…  
Wait.  
What?  
What exactly was that underneath Jooheon’s top? It was ever so slight, but enough for Minhyuk to notice. It looked like it lead to something even bigger. An illegal tattoo, maybe? Should Minhyuk ask? It’s really none of his business.  
“Hey, Jooheon.” Shit, here it goes.  
“Hm?” Jooheon puts his head in its naturally upright position, not completely facing Minhyuk, but it was enough.  
“Do you have a tattoo?”  
“What?”  
“On your neck. Is that a tattoo.  
Jooheon quickly fixed his shirt and shook his head.   
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”   
Before Minhyuk could ask what he meant by that, the bus came to a stop at a busy street corner, and Jooheon began walking towards the front. As he passed the driver, they shared a long, intense look, and Minhyuk’s friend was gone.  
A week of nonstop schoolwork had passed, and Jooheon was already making his way to being the top of his class. On the Friday before their Saturday school holiday, Minhyuk laid his head on his homeroom desk, trying to bite back his drowsiness. The loud sounds of boys running through the halls and girls giggling about said boys was all not there in Minhyuk's dream world. No, there he was on an island of his own with a few dogs and a beautiful sunset. But then… the sun cracked and broke like glass, and the shards flew at him, stabbing him in places he didn’t know he had. And out of the shadows came Jooheon, dark and stiff. He carried Minhyuk away from the danger, bridal style, of course. And then… Minhyuk woke up with a slight jump to the feeling of tapping, cracking his soft eyes open to see his savior that is Jooheon.  
“Hey Min. Sorry for waking you up.”  
“It’s no problem.” Minhyuk let out a yawn with a vibration so large that could’ve been described as a category 5 earthquake.   
“Hey, it’s been a whole week and they still haven’t given you your uniform yet?” Minhyuk scanned Jooheon to find him wearing yet another black turtleneck, accept this time accented with leather pants and chunky silver jewelry, along with a bit of eyeliner and some dangly earrings.   
“Oh, I got it. But I don’t like how it looks on me so I’m not gonna wear it.”  
“But you have to.”  
“Says who?”  
“The Korean Schooling System and probably the Government.”  
“Hm… do they have a number? I’d like to discuss my discrepancies.”  
Minhyuk giggled a bit, and he could’ve sworn he saw Jooheon’s ears perk up.  
“What’s up?”  
Jooheon took a seat in the empty desk in front of Minhyuk, straddling the chair backwards.  
“I want you to meet my family, Minhyuk.”  
Whoa, what?! Family?! Meeting?! Taking?! Touching?! Social interaction?! Minhyuk can’t even raise a finger in class. Keep it cool, you got this.  
“Family?”  
“Yeah. Somehow it slipped my mind to tell you that I have brothers. Four of them, actually.”  
“Well, I don’t know. I’ve never had great “getting to know family” skills… so… I really don’t know.”  
“Please Minhyuk.” Jooheon gently reached for Minhyuk’s hands, placing them in his own and stroking the back of one. Poor Minhyuk didn’t know what this feeling in his stomach was.  
“Jooheon--”  
“They’re gonna seriously love you, I promise! I’ve been telling them about you for days now, and--”  
“Wait… you talk about me… to other people.”  
“Of course I do, how could I not? I have to tell people about the gorgeous boy I met on the first day of school, and how he actually wanted to be my friend.”  
Minhyuk was in complete shock. No one had ever WILLINGLY spoke about him before. Soon, though, Jooheon developed a sad look on his face.  
“I know that you haven’t known me that long or anything, but I have no other friends in this town. My brothers are all I’ve had since my parents died, and I haven’t been able to really talk to people except them since. I really want to show them that I’m capable of making friends and I’m not just the baby. They’ve already made tons, and we haven’t been here for a month yet! I just really want them to be proud.”  
“Wow, Jooheon. You really love them.”  
“I do, they’re all I know. So…?”  
Minhyuk, you’ve been a loser your whole life. You’ve never had any friends and your mouth is full of metal. Don’t you dare let this opportunity to be someone slip from your grasp!  
“You know what? Yeah, I’ll meet them. I could get out more.”  
Still, Jooheon did not smile, but Minhyuk could feel that he was grining on the inside.  
“Awesome! I’ll bring you over on holiday, tomorrow.”  
“Sounds good!”  
With that, Jooheon swiftly left the classroom and went wherever, while Minhyuk was left alone to his own devices. And all the time, in between the giggling girls and the sprinting guys, Minhyuk couldn’t help but think of one thing.  
He called me gorgeous


End file.
